The First Snow Fall of Winter
by Mestin
Summary: Christmas parties, boyfriends, and father problems are just a few of the difficulties in Lucy's everbusy world. But when a pink-haired stranger saves Lucy's life she soon realizes she has plenty of things to be grateful for. Fairy Tail One shot Au.


Lucy stood next to the bus station. Despite the heavy clouds overhead no snow or rain fell. Behind her, all the stores had already put up there Christmas decorations. Inflated Santas and sleighs were by nearly every store entrance. The bitter wind blew again, nearly knocking her bag out of her hands.

Pulling her phone out of her coat pocket she checked the bus schedule once more. Sighing in frustration she wanted to throw her phone into the road. Now instead of being on a delay the bus had been cancelled due to "dangerous conditions". Before turning off her phone a text caught her attention. Her stomach sank, it was from her father.

She turned her phone off. She didn't want to deal with that right now. After slipping her phone back into her pocket, she pulled her scarf up to cover her mouth and nose. Careful of the slippery sidewalks she started off down the road. Despite her big winter coat, the cold chilled her straight to her bones.

The clouds finally opened and the rain quickly turned into sleet. Which as soon as it touched the ground turned into ice. Pulling her hat lower, Lucy shivered. Winter was the worst time of the year. Despite it being a holiday season it was her least favorite. Here in Fiore, they rarely got snow until mid-January, if at all. Instead all they got was sleet and hail. Even the spirit of Christmas couldn't cover for the horrible weather.

The plastic bag began to get heavier on her arm. Looking down at the contents she considered leaving them. But she couldn't. Tomorrow was the Christmas party at work. If she didn't bring her share then her co-workers would be more than annoyed. Now she wished that she'd done her shopping yesterday instead of spending the day with Loki. It had been more than a waste, and she wouldn't be surprised if Loki never talked to her again.

Stopping by the stop light she pressed the button, signaling that she wanted to cross. Looking at the lights she realized she could barely see them, so how could the drivers even see them? Looking over her shoulder she saw a sign for Love and Lucky, a popular café. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the K flickering on and off.

Layla, her mother. She remembered her mother telling her the story of how her parents had meet at the café Love and Lucky. Her mom would tell her how it was on a bitter cold day much like today. Her dad, a cashier, had fallen in love with Layla, who'd been a regular at the café. It was on the day that her dad proposed to her mother that the K light had stopped working. Her parents had considered it a sign that they should name their daughter Lucy.

Shaking her head, Lucy tried to clear the memory from her mind. Her parents' story had been far from happy. Sleet or tears, Lucy couldn't tell which slid down her cheek. Gripping her bag tightly, she saw the light change from green to red, signaling that she could cross. She was in such a hurry to cross that she forgot to look both ways.

"Look out!" A voice called from behind her. A loud beep filled the air and Lucy saw the headlights of a large truck moments before being tackled out of the way. Her and the stranger rolled through the slush and mud. Her shoulder stung from the impact. When she opened her eyes, she found herself staring into the onyx eyes of a young man. They stared at each for a second before Lucy quickly pushed him off her.

"Are you alright?" The truck driver yelled as he climbed out of the vehicle. Too shaken to say anything Lucy just nodded. Offering her his hand Lucy grabbed it. The man pulled her to her feet. He was short and looked like he was badly in need of a shave. Before the truck driver could say something the stranger broke in.

"What the hell were you doing? A red light means stop not go!" The young man yelled.

"Yes of course, it was just…" The older man stammered. Quickly Lucy broke in to avoid any more conflict.

"It's fine really. I could barely see the lights from where I was standing. Besides I should've looked both ways before crossing." Lucy said. This seemed to calm the young man's anger. The truck driver sent her a grateful look then reached into his pocket.

"Here, take this. I'm really sorry about almost hitting you, so please accept this." He said. Lucy tried to refuse but the truck driver would have none of it. Instead he handed the money to the stranger and said "Make sure she gets something warm to drink." With that the truck driver quickly drove off.

When he was gone, Lucy stood next to the stranger in silence.

"Are these yours?" The stranger asked holding up her shopping bag that was covered in mud.

Lucy nodded, "Yes, thank-you…"

"Natsu." The young man said smiling. Before she could do anything else, he spoke. "I don't know about you but I'm starving." She watched as he made a bee-line for the Love and Lucky café. He'd just reached the sidewalk when he must've realized that she wasn't with him.

"Aren't you coming?" He yelled back. Lucy shook her head. She needed to head home before this weather got any worse. But standing there, shivering in her soaked clothes she realized that it would probably be a good idea to warm up first before heading home.

"Yes, of course, half of that money's mine." She added as she caught up to him.

"What do you mean? I saved you. This money's mine." He said walking off towards the café.

Annoyed Lucy followed him. "Excuse me, but he offered me that money. After all it was me who almost got hit by the car not you!" She said trying to keep up with him.

He turned to face her and dangled the twenty-dollar bill inches from her nose. "You could've just looked both ways instead of charging out into the middle of road." He commented with a grin. Frustrated Lucy wanted to say something more but he held up a hand to silence her. "Fine the money's yours, but at least buy me a meal." Taken aback, Lucy accepted the money.

They walked into the nearly empty café and up to a sleepy looking cashier who signaled for them to order.

"Go ahead and order your food first." Lucy whispered. Natsu nodded and then began giving his order to the cashier. Lucy gaped as Natsu rattled on for nearly five minutes. When he took a breath Lucy quickly pushed him out of the way. "Last of all, I would like a small cappuccino." The cashier nodded as he finalized their order.

"I wasn't done ordering yet, I hadn't even gotten to the kids' meal." Natsu whined. More than annoyed Lucy glared at him and he quickly stopped his whimpering noises. The cashier gave her sympathetic look before saying. "You know in most cases it's the boyfriend who pays for the meal." Lucy forced a smile as she dug through her purse for more money.

"Uh, he's not my boyfriend." Lucy explained. This caught the cashier's attention. "Really. A brother then?" Lucy shook her head. "No, think of it more as an acquaintance. But I owe him… so I'm paying." After several minutes of digging through her purse she realized that she'd lost her credit card. Glancing at the cashier's name tag she knew she had to act quickly.

Leaning over the counter she looked up at the cashier with her dark brown eyes.

"Say, Bora, it seems that I left my credit card at my house, is it possible that you could let this embarrassing incident slide." She said winking. For a moment, she thought the cashier fell for it, until he said. "How about you give me the twenty-dollar bill. And then you and your friend or whatever he is can help clean out this café after closing hours.

"Whatever." She said laying the twenty-dollar bill on the counter and going over to join Natsu at one of the empty tables.

"Next time you're paying." She stated as she pulled the chair out so she could sit on it. He didn't say anything. Instead he took his coat and hat off setting them on the table next to them. That was when Lucy saw his hair. It was bright pink and was sticking up all over the place.

"What did you do to your hair?" Lucy stammered.

"What's wrong with my hair?" Natsu asked, "Is it flat again." He quickly ruffled his hair before saying. "This is why I hate hats they always make my hair flat."

"Actually, I meant the color." Lucy explained. Natsu stared at her blankly. "What do you mean,? My hair color's perfectly normal." He said.

"But it's pink!" Lucy exclaimed. "Yes." Natsu said slowly, eyeing her up and down before adding. "And yours is blond." Sighing in frustration she pulled her phone out of her pocket. She'd had enough of money-moochers who disguised themselves as guardian angels. Checking her texts, she saw one from Jason, her manager.

 _Did you get your part of the Christmas Party supplies?_

 _Yep_. She quickly wrote back. The text from her father was still there but she didn't have the courage to open it. When she saw a message from Loki her hand shook involuntarily as she tapped on it to open it. _Can we talk?_ Was all that was written. Chewing her bottom lip nervously she contemplated answering. Yesterday had been a disaster and she didn't think she was ready to deal with that yet. But she knew the longer she refused to answer the more worried Loki would get.

She quickly closed her texts and opened her Tumblr account. Anything that would get her mind off these last couple of days would do. Scrolling through her feed she couldn't help but feel like she'd seen it all.

"Lucy, our food is ready." Natsu yelled excitedly as he hurried towards the counter. "You mean your food is ready." Lucy commented as they went up to the counter. Grabbing her cappuccino, she left Natsu alone to try and carry his food all the way back to the table.

"Remember, when y'all are done eating you need to help me clean up the café." Bora yelled over the counter.

"Of course, how could I forget?" Lucy said tossing him her brightest smile. When Natsu finally arrived back at their table he was out of breath.

"How could you make me carry all of this food back by myself?" Natsu said dramatically as he collapsed into the chair.

"If you can't carry it, don't order it." Lucy snapped. Natsu shivered before mumbling "Meanie." Rolling her eyes Lucy was about to get a book out of her purse when her eyes landed on Natsu's blue-black scarf. The scarf moved and Lucy jumped slightly. Natsu glanced at her. "Weirdo." He said under his breath.

"I'm weird? What the heck is wrapped around your neck!" She said raising her voice. Surprised, Natsu set his drink down on the table. "Oh, you mean Happy." He said lifting a large snake off his neck. Before she could stop herself, Lucy screamed scrambling away from the table. All the customers had left but Bora, the cashier glanced their way.

"Is everything all right?" Bora asked.

"Yes!" Natsu quickly answered.

"NO!" Lucy yelled. "He has a snake in your café." She quickly explained. Natsu lifted the large reptile. Bora's eyes widened in surprise. "Sir, you're not supposed to bring pets into this café." Bora stated.

"Please, I promise Happy isn't dangerous. He's an eastern indigo snake, they aren't poisonous and there extremely docile." Natsu pleased. Bora glanced at them uneasily before saying "Are you sure?" Natsu nodded "Of course I'm sure, I bought him for $ 1000."

Lucy choked. "You can afford a snake for $ 1000 but you made me pay for a meal?" Holding his hands up defensively Natsu said: "Hey, you're the one who insisted I give you the twenty bucks." Lucy glanced around for Bora but he was gone, probably working back in the kitchen. Natsu waved her over and Lucy cautiously approached him. She kept an eye on the snake which had wound its long body loosely around Natsu's neck and left arm.

Sitting back down at the table Lucy took a sip of her cappuccino. "Do you want to pet him?" Natsu asked with a grin. Though it kind of scared her Lucy couldn't help but stare at the snake.

"Will it bite?" Lucy asked.

"Naw, not Happy." Natsu said. Reaching a hand out she let her hand brush the strangely smooth scales.

"See it's not that bad." Natsu said as Lucy smiled softy.

"I guess not. Can I hold him?" Lucy asked.

"Sure, but he's a little heavy." Natsu explained. He helped Lucy get the snake to slither onto her arm and around her neck. She sat back down and watched as Natsu dug into his meal. Curious about how he got such a large snake she asked. "So how did you get him?"

Natsu looked at her sheepishly before saying, "Well it wasn't really me who bought him." Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Then how do you know what he is?" She asked ready to hand the snake back to him. "My older brother Zeref sent him to me, though when Happy arrived he was still only an egg, after he hatched I took him to the pet store and they told me everything I know. Now Happy helps me with my job." Natsu explained. Lucy nearly choked on her cappuccino. "How does a snake help you with your job?" She asked. "What are you, a snake charmer?" She added. Natsu didn't seem amused by her joke as he scooped the last of his scrambled eggs into his mouth. When he was done, he answered.

"For your information, I'm not a snake charmer. I'm an entertainer at the Fairy Tail Circus." Lucy couldn't help but stare in shock. Fairy Tail was one of the biggest circuses in all of Fiore. Though they were known as one of the most… eccentric circuses for lack of a better word.

"You're joking, right?" Lucy asked in disbelief. Natsu shook his head and she watched as he began digging through a large leather sack.

"What are you doing?" She asked, now curious.

"Watch and be amazed." He said as he pulled out a small lighter from his bag. He fisted his left hand and placed the lighter underneath it. He pressed the button for a few seconds then he lit the lighter. When he opened his hand a moment later he was holding the little flame, which he then quickly put out. Leaning forward for a better look Lucy asked: "How did you do that?"

"Magic." Natsu answered before putting the lighter back in his bag. Rolling her eyes, she handed Happy back to him.

"Do you have any pets?" Natsu asked taking a drink from his hot cocoa.

"Yes, I have Plue." She answered.

"What's that?" Natsu asked winding Happy back around his neck like a scarf.

"He's my Japanese Spitz." Lucy explained. "My dog." She added when she saw Natsu's blank look. Before they could say anymore Bora called them over.

"The café's about to close, so if you two just clean out the serving area I'll take care of the kitchen." Bora told them.

"Wait, why do we have to help you clean up the café?" Natsu asked.

"Because." Lucy said pulling him away from the counter. "Someone ordered more food than I could pay for, because I lost my credit card." She whispered.

Cleaning out the serving area wasn't as bad as Lucy thought and within minutes they were ready to leave. She put her coat and beanie back on, but she soon realized she'd lost her scarf.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked as she looked around frantically. "Umm, I guess I must've left my scarf out in the road. It'll be ruined by now, I'm sure of it." Lucy stammered.

"No problem." Natsu said as he reached into his leather bag and pulled out a white scarf with a dragon scaled pattern.

"No really, it's fine." Lucy said trying to protest as he dropped the scarf into her hands. In the end, she wound it tightly around her neck. A smell that she could only guess to be Natsu's seemed to roll off the scarf. It smelled much like the campfires that her and her friends used to have during her high school years. They would spend all night out at one of her friend's house who had a big fire pit behind their house. They'd spent almost every Friday night there. That was also where she'd first meet Loki.

After graduation, her group of friends had slowly left. Some got wrapped up in college, others moved to find work. A few still lived in Hargeon but she hadn't heard from them for years. High school had been the best years of her life, but after that her life had gone downhill. Though she was lucky enough to get a job working for Jason, one of the editors of Fiore's Top News. It was one of the most popular news joints in all of Fiore. It reported news from one side of the country to the other.

Jason had oversaw the modeling section of the news,and that's how she'd first gotten a job. As a model for the newspaper; though thanks to Jason she was now a fully-fledged writer. He'd insisted she take some online writing courses, and she did, though they'd done little to improve her writing. Now he wanted her to go to college for a few years, but she didn't have the money… And then there was her dad.

"Lucy, Lucy, Luigi!" Natsu's persistent voice broke through all her thoughts. She glanced up at him.

"Do you need something?" She asked.

"Nah, you just seemed lost in your thoughts." He explained.

"Well, I've best be getting home." Lucy said picking up her plastic shopping bag.

"Me too, but I'll walk with you until we've got to go different directions." Natsu told her with a smile. They walked in a comfortable silence, listening to the wind. They crossed the main road and Lucy dreaded the next part of the trip. Her apartment complex was situated at the very top of the hill, and walking up the hill in slush and ice was a feat in of itself.

The sleet had slowed down but Lucy was too busy making her way carefully up the slippery sidewalk to notice.

"It's snowing." Natsu's voice said from behind her. Looking over her shoulder she saw him holding his hand opened, catching any snowflakes that landed on it. She looked at the sky just as a flake landed on her nose. She couldn't help but stare as the snow began to come down with more force. It was beautiful. And for it to happen before Christmas was almost unheard of. She didn't know how long she stood there, but it was long enough for Natsu.

Unexpectedly a large snowball hit her in the back of the head. She whirled around ready to tell him to stop when another hit her right in the middle of the face. Dropping her bag, she dove into the snow-covered grass by the sidewalk. Another flew over her head and she quickly began make a snowball herself. When she was done, she couldn't have been more proud of herself. Despite the lack of snow, she managed to make a ball of brown, white and a little bit of green.

When Natsu was within range she threw it and it nailed him right in the face. She laughed and was stepping back onto the sidewalk when her feet slid out of underneath her. A snowball flew overhead right where her face would've been if she hadn't slipped. Holding her hands up in surrender she let herself fall back onto the snow.

The feeling of the snow falling on her face seemed almost magical. A moment later Natsu joined her.

"The last time we had snow before Christmas must've been at least ten years ago." Lucy laughed.

"This is the first time I've ever seen snow." Natsu said holding several melting snowflakes on his bare hands.

"Really?" Lucy asked.

"Yup." Natsu said quickly, standing up and dusting the snow off his hands. He gave her a hand up before saying: "We should get going." They continued to walk on the slippery sidewalk and Lucy could see her apartment complex up ahead. "How long have you lived in Hargeon?" Lucy asked.

"A couple of months… I came looking for my dad, but I haven't been able to find him yet." Natsu explained. Lucy stomach clenched at the word dad. "Your dad?" She whispered.

"Adoptive dad, but yeah, he taught me everything I know, but when I was little he had to leave. He was a circus performer like myself, but much better. He was so good with flames that people would call him The Fire Dragon." Natsu explained.

"That's why you joined the circus." Lucy commented quietly.

"Partly." Natsu said.

"What's the other part." No sooner had she said than Natsu clammed up. Feeling bad she finally said "I haven't seen my dad in over three years."

"Really?" Natsu asked looking down at her.

"Yeah, though… I guess that's my fault. After my mom died things got complicated. After high school, I took the first chance I could to get away from him, and it worked. I haven't seen him since my job application got accepted." She said.

"What's your job anyways?" Natsu asked looking her up and down.

"Back then it was as a model but after a year and half, my manager offered me a job as a writer. I haven't gone back to modeling since." Lucy explained. They came to a stop in front of Apartment building 7. Taking her keys out of her purse she turned to face Natsu.

"Thanks for the company, I really enjoyed it." She said.

"No problem." He answered. They stood in silence for a moment until Natsu reached into his bag and pulled out a little card. He handed it to her. On the red card, she saw the symbol for the Fairy Tail Circus, the name, a phone number, as well as the name of their website.

"If you ever want to come watch the show, I'm sure I could get you a good seat." He offered. She tucked the small card into her purse. Then almost impulsively she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. She felt her face turn slightly red, and she was sure Natsu's was slightly flushed as well.

Hurrying away before he could say anything she quickly unlocked the door to the large building. After running up several flights of stairs she stopped on the floor 7. Catching her breath, she looked at the clock that hung over the door. 11:14 PM. Tomorrow she was going to be tired, and she still had to prepare her supplies for the Christmas Party. Sighing in frustration she kept walking till she came to a stop in front of room 707. She quickly swiped her apartment card before entering.

Plue came running over, his whole body wiggling in excitement. After placing her shopping bag on the table, she went and collapsed on her big bed. Christmas Parties could wait. She needed sleep. She didn't bother changing to her PJs, instead she just took her coat and hat off and let them fall on the floor. Reaching her hand up to unwind… her scarf. She'd kept his scarf. Feeling embarrassed she rushed over to her window, but the street below was empty.

After carefully removing the scarf she placed it in a drawer in her nightstand. He worked at the Fairy Tail Circus, all she had to do was go and return his scarf. Turning off the lights she crawled into her cold bed and whistled for Plue to join her. She tried to fall asleep but she couldn't stop staring at her phone that sat on the nightstand. With a frustrated sigh, she reached over and grabbed her phone.

The light nearly blinded her and Plue seemed equally surprised. After several tries she got the brightness down to a tolerable level. Opening her messages, she decided to answer Loki's first. If Natsu could hold fire in his hand and own a pet snake, surely, she could talk to her boyfriend whom she had a fight with. Her hands seemed to shake as she typed a short an answer.

 _Yes, meet me at the Love and Lucky café tomorrow, maybe we can work things out._

Now, the hard part. She hadn't even bothered to look at her father's texts since she'd run off. She'd been to afraid. Taking a deep breath, she opened the message. There were only three words.

 _I am sorry_

Lucy smiled as she felt a tear trickle down her cheek. With a shaky breath, she typed a three-word answer.

 _Can we talk?_

No sooner had she written that did her phone ring. An incoming call from Jude Heartfilia. "Thank you Natsu." She whispered as she hit answer.


End file.
